Flotation apparatus.



H. 0. NORVELL. FLOTATION APPARATUS. APPUCAHON mm JULY 19. i916.

Patented Oct. 16, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

H. 0. NORVELL.

FLOTATION APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED :uw 19.19am.

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HENRY O. NOBVELL, 0F MASCOT, TENNESSEE.

FLOTATION APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 16, 1917.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY O. NORVELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mascot, in the county of Knox and State of Tennessee, have invented a new'and useful Improvement in Flotation Apparatus, of

The object of the invention is to produce an apparatus which is capable of uniform and economical operation and which has large capacity.

1n the accompanying drawings,

Figure l is a plan of a single unit of my 2 0 apparatus Fig. 2 is an elevation looking at the appa ratus from the left, as shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is an upright section on the line, 3-3, of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4: is an upright section on the line, 4=4, of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow; 1

Fig. 5 is a detail section on the line, 55, of Fig. i.

Fig. 6 is a sectional detail of the gearing shown at the middle of Fig. 2.

The apparatus may comprise a single structure or unit in which the desired operation is exclusively performed; but the apparatus preferably comprises a series of such units in which the material is treated progressively, the material first entering one of the units and portions of the material passing from the first unit into the second unit, where the operation of the first unit is substantially repeated, and so on through the series of such units.

Since these units are substantially duplicates of each other and my,inyent on may be embodied in a single unit, only one unit will be herein described. I a

Each unit has a tank body comprising a horizontal bottom, A, upright side walls, B, B, and slanting end walls, G, rising from the bottom, A, and filling t e space between the side wa1ls,'B, B, nea/rly; to the upper edges of the latter. The end walls, G, C, slope from their upper ends toward the base or bottom, A, at about the sari1e'angle,whereby said body is made symmetrical relative to an upright line passing through the middle of the bottom, A. The upper edge of each end wall is a little lower than the upper edges of the-side walls, B, B.

At the upper portion of the body is a mixing compartment, E. Said compartment is supported lay the side walls, B, B, and has a bottom, and upright walls, E arranged perpendicula to the side walls, B, B, and havingtheir ends bearing against the inner faces of said walls. The walls,- E extend above the upper edges of the side walls, 15, B. An end piece, E rests lengthwise upon the upper edge of the right-hand side Wall,-B, (see Fig. 4:) and extends across and is secured to the upper portions of the adjacent ends of the walls, E By means of this end piece, E the walls, E apd the bottom, E are supported. Said bottom and said walls may also be secured to said side walls, B, B, by nailing or otherwise.

At the opposite side wall, B, an end piece, E*, is seated against said wall and between the side walls, E and the bottom, E of the mixing compartment, said end piece, E extending above the upper edge of the wall, B, as shown by Fig. 4:- The outer face of said end piece, E*, and the corresponding end of the bottom, E have an upright groove, 6*, to receive the stem,'B described later on. This end of the mixing cbmpartment may be secured in any desired manner as by nails driven through the wall, B, into the end piece, E, or the bottom, E or the Walls, E or all of these members.

In the lower portions of each of the walls, E is a port E In one of the end pieces, E is a port, E. In the opposite wall, B, near the bottom or base, A, is a port, A to which is applied a gate valve, A which is movable up and down between upright guide The upper end of said gate has strips, B two upright ears, B between which rests the lower end of a stem, B A pintle, B, extends horizontally through said ears and the lower end of said stem to secure the latter to said gate. Said stem extends upward along the inner face of said wall, B, and slidably through the groove, e, at the leftf hand end of the compartment, E. An addi tion, B is applied to the outer face of the upright wall, B, opposite said stem, withits upper edge en with the upper edge of the.

bevel gear, B

a hand wheel, 13,

Wall, E. The upper edge of said wall and of said addition make a horizontal seat for a base, B, in which is journaled an upright nut, 15, on the upper portion of which is a Above the wall, B, the stem, B, is bent horizontally and then upward through said nut. (See Figs. 2, 4 and 6.) This last upright portion of said stem is screw threaded to fit the threads of the nut,

so that the turning of said nut will raise or lower said stem, and the raising or lowering of the stem will raise or lower the gate, A

A bevel gear wheel, B meshes with the bevel gear wheel, B and is mounted on a horizontal shaft, B, which rests in bear ings, in the base, B", and has on its outer end by means of which said shaft and the bevel gear wheel, B, may be turned in either direction for raising or lowering said gate to vary or cut-ofi the flow through the port A In the mixing compartment, E, is an agitator, F, supported by the lower end of an upright shaft, F which is supported in fixed bearings, F and supports at its upper end a pulley or similar wheel, F to which power is applied for the rotation of said shaft and said agitator. At the outer side of each end wall, C, is a receiving trough, D, in position to receive flow of material from the interior of the body of the machine over the upper edge of the ad jacent end wall, C.

Adjacent each trough, D, is a skimmer, the function of which is 'to facilitate the flow of material from the interior of the body into the adjacent trough. Each of said shimmers comprises a horizontal shaft, G, resting in bearings, G seated on the upper edges of the side walls, B. Adjacent the inner face of each wall, B, the shaft, G, has a rigid cross arm, G Said cross arms and said shaft are cut by a common plane. Two gravity blades, G are arranged parallel to said shaft and between said cross arms and are suspended from said cross arms by lugs, G", formed on the upper corners of said blades and extending looselyinto said cross arms. One end of each of said shafts extends through one of the bearings, G and supports a pulley, G to which power'is to be applied for rotating its shaft in the proper direction to cause the blades, G to move upward between said shaft and the adjacent wall, C.

A pipe or similar conducting member, E, is placed for the delivery of material into the mixing compartment, E. The drawings sh w said conducting member extending into the port, E, ofthe end piece, E, of the mixing compartment.

From the port or outlet, A which is controlled by the gate, A, as already described, a pipe, A leads obliquely upward into the mixing compartment of the next mes es unit, if another unit is used. If not, said pipe is to discharge elsewhere.

A pipe, A extends upward through the base or bottom, A. Said pipe leads from a source of water supply under pressure and has a cut-off valve, A, which is normally closed. On the lower portion of each wall, G, is a faucet, 0 through which the interior of the structure may be drained when desired.

While the agitator, F, and the Skimmers are in motion, the pulp is delivered into the mixing chamber, as above described, and a suitable quantity of oil is delivered into the mixing chamber. The agitator causes the thorough mixing of the oil with the pulp beforethe latter passes out of the mixing chamber through the ports, E The foam or froth forming on the surface is gradually moved outward by the shimmers into the troughs, D, D. The heavier portions of the pulp gradually flow outward through the port, A This flow is varied by means of the gate, A and varying such flow inversely varies the flow into the trough.

Vlhen there is an abnormal accumulation of solid comminuted'material in the lower portion of the compartment, water is forced upward through the pipe, A", by opening the cut-off valve, A. W hen there is occasion for entirely emptying the compart-' ment, the faucets, C are opened.

It is to be noted that the agitator is an aerating agitator; and that there is elongation of the tank between the agitator discharge and the froth overflows; and that there are extension and non-obstruction of the interior space of the tank below the agitator, these prolongations being in the lines of feed to permit dropping of gangue from the froth and surfaltze flow, and the meeting of oppositely flowing eddies at the middle of the apparatus below the agitator being given upward deflection and partial neutralization which promotes settlement of gangue, the consequence of which will be evident when. it is considered that ore subjected to froth separation is usually more or less slimy.

I claim as my invention,

1. In combination, an elongated tank having froth overflows at. opposite ends, an aerating agitator, having a discharging portion depending slightly below the liquid level in the tank and having outlets adapted to discharge strata of aerated'pulp in the directionsof' the froth overflows, the tank being substantially unobstructed below the agitator and having a settling space below to discharge strata of aerated pulp in the directions of the froth overflows, the tank being substantially unobstructed 'below the agitator and having a settling space below the same extending throughout the length of the tank, and means for driving froth toward said overflows,

substantially as descrihed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name, in presence of two Witnesses, this 3rd day of July, in the year one thousand nine hundred and sixteen.

HENRY O. NORVELL. 

